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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209746">Chances Lost and Found</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagemeikenu/pseuds/nagemeikenu'>nagemeikenu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>James gets the best of both worlds, Lily is open, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Sirius is a dramatic ho, but what else is new</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:53:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,079</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209746</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagemeikenu/pseuds/nagemeikenu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Lily have finally gotten together to the joy of everyone...except Sirius, who is heartbroken. Written for Sirius Black Fest, prompt 16: Sirius never thought he'd get to have this, get to have *James*. But he hadn't counted on Lily being so perceptive and open-minded.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/James Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sirius Black Fest 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Chances Lost and Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just want to say thank you to my amazing beta, purplechimera8! I feel confident about this fic and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing for Sirius Black Fest this year! &lt;3 My prompt was: Sirius never thought he'd get to have this, get to have *James*. But he hadn't counted on Lily being so perceptive and open-minded.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When the air was crisp and the heart inside Sirius was cracking in two, Lily’s flaming hair chased him down the hall. He’d been avoiding her—well, avoiding </span>
  <em>
    <span>James</span>
  </em>
  <span>—for a week now. Peter and Remus had been very good at running interference once he’d explained things...in his own way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Black!” Her shout echoed down the sparsely populated hall, other students turning to stare at him as he hurried by, hoping he could use the pretense of being nearly late for Charms. Lily was faster than he’d expected, though, so he had to nearly run to keep ahead of her. He hadn’t counted on James rounding the corner in front of him, which meant he had to stop dead to avoid knocking him over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hullo,” James said cheerfully, as if he hadn’t just strategically maneuvered Sirius into the trap of a conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Lo,” Sirius tried for a quick smile while panting, “sorry, mate—late for Charms—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, no you don’t.” Lily’s voice was stern and Sirius knew that between her and James, he was bound to lose. As usual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll be skipping Charms today,” James said definitively. “Bad stomach ache. We’ll escort you to the Hospital Wing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is, after all, the duty of the Heads to care for their fellow students.” Lily stepped in front of him wearing a triumphant smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well.” Sirius adjusted the strap of his bag and moved his gaze to the floor. “Far be it from me to interfere with Head duties.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Off we go, then.” James slid an arm through Sirius’, and Lily took Sirius’ bag.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got this, love,” she said with a softer smile. Sirius looked away and silently walked with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surprisingly, it looked as if they were actually heading to the Hospital Wing. Sirius kept his gaze firmly ahead or on the floor, trying not to concentrate on what it felt like to have James so close. It wasn’t bloody </span>
  <em>
    <span>fair</span>
  </em>
  <span>—James belonged to Lily, and he to her. He wished fervently that he could have fallen for Remus instead; bookish, sharp Remus with a fierce mind and wounded heart. Alas, it was his lot to have fallen for the outgoing Gryffindor who’d fallen for a Gryffindor girl the moment he met her. He was a pseudo-Gryffindor boy. Everyone knew he should’ve gone to Slytherin. Everyone knew he didn’t fit. Perhaps that was why Sirius felt so close to James—even from the first moment, James had never asked him to be anything but what he was. Last summer had been the best of his entire life; the days had been marked by laughter and subtle touches Sirius daydreamed about when James was elsewhere...and then Lily had been made Head Girl. The first two months of the term had been marked by Sirius having to face that he was going to lose the love of his life. The third month had been an arrow to Sirius’ heart, sent by James when he and Lily finally got together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He remembered sobbing in front of Remus and Peter, who had listened to him wax poetically—or pathetically, really—about James and how he was going to end up entirely alone. So, Remus and Peter had agreed to help him avoid the couple while he “healed”. He hadn’t bothered telling them the hole in his heart would never close. There wouldn’t be much of a point to that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His foot caught something, he wasn’t paying attention to what, and he lurched forward. James caught him immediately, and Sirius tried to focus on something other than the boy’s hands on his hips, steadying him instinctively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You alright, Pad?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, sorry.” Sirius gulped as James removed his hands, then took one of Sirius’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re going this way.” Lily nudged one of his shoulders, gestured at the entrance to the Hospital Wing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Lils and I aren’t the only ones who need to have a chat,” James told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, this was not what he’d expected to happen. He thought the Hospital Wing was just an excuse, but here they were. Did Madam Pomfrey need something? Was this about something completely unrelated? He couldn’t see how…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until he saw Remus reading on one of the beds. He could feel the blood in his veins turn to ice. It would be easier to be angry, easier to lash out at the betrayal, to take the apology on Remus’ face to mean that he could explode and run away. Of course, he couldn’t do that. The ice froze him in place, rooted him in his terror while he stared at the pale, Welsh boy who’d clearly blabbed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sirius, sit down.” Lily’s firm voice made it so that doing anything else was ludicrous. So, Sirius sat in the chair they’d brought by him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pads, I know you didn’t want anyone to say anything. I just found out something that applied to you and you’d been avoiding pretty much everyone so I just thought we’d need to dogpile.” Remus’ voice got faster the more he spoke, and Sirius tried to process what he said. Really, he did; it was just that he couldn’t stop fixating on how James’ hand was on his shoulder, squeezing gently, and there was also the sheer panic gripping him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-What?” Sirius blinked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What Remus is trying to say,” James jumped in, “is that there is no problem with you liking me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Correct,” Lily said. After a moment, it was possible for Sirius to process that he was not, in fact, in horrible trouble and losing his best friends forever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y-you don’t mind?” Sirius looked at Lily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can I mind when you see what I see?” Lily ruffled his hair. “Sirius, James is wonderful. There’s no shame in falling for him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t say I disagree,” James grinned at the look on Sirius’ face. “You’re also wonderful, Siri. We’ll work it out between us so that no one’s uncomfortable or left out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s right,” Lily broke in. “You and I will talk about how things are going and how things work with our James. Communication is key.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sirius said, “yeah, this could work.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It can, and it will.” James’ optimism shone through. Sirius found himself in a double hug with James and Lily, and it was perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though he’d thought it would be impossible, his heart had healed completely, and he hadn’t given up a damn thing. The best part was, neither did James or Lily. Everyone got what they wanted most.</span>
</p>
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